Tom Lonero
08/23/2021
PHOTOS BY: Thomas Lonero
In August of 2021, I had the honor of visiting the famed petroglyphs at McConkie Ranch just outside of Vernal, Utah. With only one stop along the way, the trip from Salt Lake City took about 3 hours.
Arriving at the ranch I could see I wasn’t alone. A few cars were in the parking lot. There appeared to be at least one other hiking trail in the area and since I never encountered another soul on my hike up into the hills, I’ll assume the owners of those vehicles opted for that hike. My hike was to take me up into the hills along the butte or mesa that encompassed the valley. That is considered the main hike. The other hike, which I did not take, explores the “Three Kings” panel to the south. Online I had read it should take about two hours for my hike, but with my picture taking and filming, I expected it would take a bit longer.
Currently I have some anthropology classes under my belt for which I am sporting a 4.0, I’ll suggest that I would qualify for the term less than that of an amateur archaeologist, which would probably be “Non-Archaeologist”. That doesn’t mean I am without knowledge and inspecting these petroglyphs brought on some different questions based off some of the knowledge I have acquired over the years. Questions that I’m sure qualified archeologists have asked and in some cases may have answers to.
Rock art is notoriously hard to date. There are different methods. Some attempt to test patina, which erodes and comes back, making that method unreliable. Others attempt to use the uranium-thorium method, which sounds expensive and has its own set of problems that can affect reliable dating. Some check for sand deposits below where the sandstone rocks were etched. It is my understanding that none of the rock art at McConkie has been dated using otherwise expensive dating technology, which if used, still might not be a confirmation of exact dates. The techniques used there are based solely on artifacts found in the area that resemble the rock art found at McConkie. Artifacts like figurines, which have been found in the area that can be dated using the usual sedimentary methods of dating. It is assumed that the trapezoidal style figurines found are part of the same culture that drew trapezoidal humanoids on the cliff walls. Is it a stretch to assume one automatically means the other? Couldn't the people who made the figurines have simply copied what they seen carved into the hills around them?
A brief history
In 1925, a Mormon bishop and amateur archaeologist named Ephraim Pectol discovered what became known as the Pectol Shields. Three amazingly preserved buffalo hide shields were discovered by him in a dry cave called Calf Creek. Today it is known as Sulfur Creek in Capital Reef National Park. The National Park designation is one that Ephraim had fought for and won. At the time of the discovery, some things had been known about the people who had inhabited the area. That knowledge came largely from Navajo oral history, the abundance of rock art and various artifacts found throughout the area. They were not aptly referred to as “Fremont” until a book written in 1931 called “The Ancient Culture of the Fremont River in Utah” connected the title of “Fremont” to the culture that inhabited the area over a thousand years before. The Fremont River had been named after John Charles Fremont, an American who explored the region in the early 1800’s. In other words, the name Fremont has nothing to do with who the people were or what they were actually called.
The Navajo however do have a word for them and refer to them as the “Ancient Ones”. The actual word is “Anasazi’, which also referred to the ancestral Puebloans, who inhabited the Four Corners region and are famous for their cliff dwellings. Interestingly the name Anasazi also means “Ancient Enemy”. Today’s modern Hopi tribe lay claim to the Anasazi as their ancestors. However, oral and written history from the Aztecs suggest that their ancestral homeland may have originally been somewhere in Utah until some event forced them to move south into modern day Mexico (war maybe?). Interestingly, the Aztecs are believed to have taken over the Central Mexico Region at about 1300 CE, which fits precisely into the same time period the Freemont and the Ancient Puebloans disappeared from Utah and the Four Corners region. It seems possible they could have split off into splinter groups with one group becoming Hopi while another group became Aztec. One authority on the Aztec Calendar, a Dr. Cecilio Orosco of California State University, Fresno, as well as Alfonso Rivas-Salmon, a respected anthropologist from Universidad Autonoma de Guagalajara, have advocated for years the Aztec Culture originated in Utah. Still, some archeologists and anthropologists push back on this notion.
Differences in cultures
Some simple differences in cultures or technology seem to be apparent between the Fremont, the ancient Puebloans as well as the Aztecs and Hopi. Both the Puebloans and Aztecs wore sandals although in Aztec culture, only the hierarchy wore sandals, since they were considered a form of status. The Fremont wore moccasins.
Going back to the three buffalo shields found in the 1920’s that are now attributed to the Navajo. To my knowledge no older shields have been discovered in the Utah or Four Corners region that I can find. Shield making of the Aztecs is well known and while some animal hides were used, they were mostly formatted from wood or bamboo. That could have been a simple technological change since the Bison’s historic range was still somewhat north of present day Mexico City. A make do with what you have type of situation.
as mentioned earlier, the Anasazi name to the Navaho meant “Ancient Ones” or even “Ancient Enemy”, but interestly the original name of the Hopi is Hopituh Shi-nu-mu, which means “Peaceful People”. There seems to be evidence that the ancient Puebloans as well as the Fremont practiced some form of cannibalism. That’s also been proven in Aztec culture at least ritualistically. Maybe, the Hopi turned over a new leaf when they became Hopi? There seems to be some controversy regarding this. The Hopi lay claim to the ancient Puebloans but don’t want to lay claim to ancestral cannibalism, which is maybe understandable… or was there someone else in the area? Another tribe perhaps?
Still puzzles to solve
I personally find it interesting and odd that we attribute so many of the petroglyphs from the Fremonts that appear to be shields as actual shields and yet we haven’t found any shields older than the Navajo ones. We only assume they had them because thats how we interpret the petroglyphs. Leather dating back to 5000 BCE has been discovered around the world but we haven’t found a something the size of a shield? Sure conditions matter but Utah’s a fairly dry place and has been that way for a long time. Since rock art dating techniques are sketchy at best, is it possible that the petroglyphs are even older or from a previous culture? Native American oral history doesn’t go against this idea. That could explain why we have found so little of the culture including the shields they seemed to value, so much so that they etched petroglyph after petroglyph depicting one. Of course the value they placed on the shields could also suggest they kept them close and passed them down through generations. Maybe ‘losing one’ wasn’t a common occurrence? Maybe when the shield seen betters days they ritually burned them? Or maybe the shield petroglyphs are not depictions of shields at all. Maybe they are something entirely different. The Hopi have oral history legends about “flying shields” but nothing I seen would seem to prove the round humanoid figures are extraterrestrial… and I looked hard.
While the cultures of the Fremont and the ancient Puebloans absolutely crossed paths and were maybe even generally the same culture, not a lot is known about their connections. We do know today both cultures built round structures partly into the earth with probable wooden roofs. It’s assumed the structures were used to store corn and grains since both cultures practiced farming.
As far as cannibalism goes? It’s likely they both practiced some form of it. What was the purpose? Who knows. Was it purely ritualistic or based off survival? Maybe that was what was in store for whomever they conquered? It’s hard to deny that latter possibility when one sees the McConkie petroglyphs of severed head after severed head. Of course cutting off a head doesn’t mean you ate the person but the archeological discoveries of human bones that show they were likely boiled in pots certainly allude to that.
Enduring Mysteries and Legends
Various tribes in the southwest and plains have legends surrounding either cannibal dwarfs or cannibal giants.
The legendary child-sized dwarfs were called the Teihihan by the Arapaho and were supposedly destroyed in a great war by an allied group of Indian Nations. It’s interesting that so many tribes have these smaller humanoids in their oral history.
Were the petroglyphs marking territory or maybe giving warning about other humanoids in the area that were dangerous? It could be a signpost that simply means, “Go past this point and the cannibals will get you!” or “Come into our territory and we will remove your head!”. A form of propaganda wouldn’t be too hard to imagine.
Then there’s the enduring story that Southwestern tribes like the Paiute have told about a clan of giant red-haired cannibals called the Si-Te-Cah that lived in Southwest region of the United States. Tired of losing people to the cannibals, they went to war with them and eventually cornered the remaining giants in Lovelock Cave, which they attacked with arrows and by building a bonfire to smoke them out. Eventually, the story found its way to amateur archeologists in the early 1900’s who went to Lovelock and actually dug up bones and artifacts.
There’s no denying that archeological evidence was dug up there and that the skulls appeared to be larger than your average human from that time period. In fact archaeological evidence seems to indicate that Lovelock may have been in use as far back as 2,600 BCE. The skulls were eventually housed at the Humboldt Museum outside of Lovelock, NV up until an airing on the TV show “Ancient Aliens” actually showed the skulls. Producers and hosts of the show were permitted to compare the skull size to normal human skulls. That comparison showed the Lovelock skulls were much larger. That television showing brought immediate outrage from the Native American community and the display was removed in order to comply with NAGPRA (North American and Graves Repatriation Act). The remains were repatriated for burial. Up until then the skulls had long been housed in a cupboard and were only available for private viewing.
The Hike
The petroglyphs I found along the way at McConkie do seem to indicate shields, severed heads and bigger men, one of which has huge feet. Yes, they call that petroglyph “Bigfoot”. The land is beautiful and more petroglyphs can be found off-trail but the off-trail is more difficult and rugged. If you get hurt, it’s on you. My two-hour hike turned into almost four. When I got back to the parking lot, all the cars were gone.
Utah and some of the other surrounding states are really a treasure trove of ancient rock wall art. I’m sure not all of it has been discovered and hopefully someday more money will be thrown at dating the rock art that has been discovered properly. To me it’s obvious that the rock art at McConkie comes from different time periods, possibly over hundreds if not a thousand years or so. Unfortunately some are also fakes but there is enough there to realize the significance of the enduring mysteries that surround them. Until more archaeological proof is discovered, guys like me will simply look at them with the eyes of an adolescent and wonder if somehow we are not missing a more fantastic story about mans ancient past. A history that, so far, has only been passed down through legends and oral histories of the Native Americans. A history we still need to discover.
